According to statistics from the National Institute of Health, about 50 percent of American women and 25 percent of American men are on a diet at any given time. However, estimates also show that the average dieter will regain two-thirds of any weight they do manage to lose within five years.
Why is the weight gain turnaround so great, and how to do many men and women manage to sabotage their own success?
The answer lies in diet and nutrition. It isn’t as simple as a fast food window and overly large portion sizes, however—some eating habits can damage your weight loss efforts no matter how healthy you eat.
Here’s a look at five of the most common unhealthy eating habits that prevent you from losing weight despite your best efforts.
1. Skipping Breakfast
As with most things in life, how you start your diet in the morning can set the tone for your eating habits the rest of the day.
Whether you skip your first meal of the day because of a time crunch, or simply because you’re not hungry, you’re doing your body—and your weight loss goals—a disservice.
Skipping breakfast usually leads to increased snacking later in the day, which can easily outweigh the calories you would have eaten during breakfast, explains Milton Stokes, chief dietitian with St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City.
“People skip breakfast thinking they’re cutting calories, but by mid-morning and lunch, that person is starved,” Stokes says. “Breakfast skippers replace calories during the day with mindless nibbling, bingeing at lunch and dinner. They set themselves up for failure.”
By contrast, a government-funded study published in the American Dietetic Association found that participants who ate cereal most mornings had a 13 percent lower risk of becoming overweight when compared to their peers who skipped the first meal of the day.
2. Eating Late at Night
Since we’ve already established that the time of day when you choose to skip meals can compromise your weight loss plan, it makes sense that the time you do choose to eat can be equally important.
One of the worst things you can do when trying to lose weight, for example, is to snack or eat dinner late at night. This is one of the most widespread bad behaviors out there, since the body tends to crave sweet things at night when you’re feeling stressed, lonely, or just bored.
However, the effects can be shocking.
“Just an added 300 calories in the evening after dinner while watching TV—when you’re not even hungry—will pack on 30 pounds in one year,” Katherine Tallmadge of the American Dietetic Association tells ABC News.
And because you’re eating at night—with less of a chance that you’ll work off these calories later in the day—these are calories that will undoubtedly add to your waistline.
3. Eating On The Go
Nearly 36 percent of young American adults report having little to no time to prepare meals. As a consequence, they tend to choose pre-packaged meals or restaurant outings to replace what they might have made at home.
Unfortunately, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who choose convenience meals often eat energy-dense snacks that leave them less satisfied. As a result, they eat more.
And when you’re on the run and opt for a drive-through instead of a homemade lunch, eating more is the last thing you want to do.
Furthermore, being in a hurry or being in the car takes your mind off of what you’re eating and you have less time to make beneficial choices. Once you do have your meal, you tend to eat too quickly and even overeat as you don’t have the time you need to properly pause between bites and evaluate your feelings of fullness.
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4. Eating in Front of a Screen
After a long day in the office, settling down in front of the television with a bag of chips or popcorn can be an attractive option. However, when your attention is distracted, you can end up eating significantly more than you ever meant to.
“If you are going to watch TV and eat, prepare your meal fully and portion it out,” Nolan advises.
Another good idea is to portion your time—eat during one half-hour television show, instead of until you go to bed.
This is true for all forms of media. Don’t eat in front of your computer screen, e-reader, or even a traditional book. Even if you’re dining alone, a simple half-hour meal without distraction will allow you to focus on your calorie count and more easily control your portion size.
5. Using Food to Relieve Stress
Even if you’ve committed to a healthy eating plan, your emotions can get in the way. According to John Foreyt of the Baylor College of Behavioral Medicine Research Center, feeling weak, vulnerable, or overly stressed is all it takes to cause a person to slide back into their old ways.
“Everything can be going along just fine until you hit a rough patch and feelings of boredom, loneliness, depression…or any kind of stress,” Foreyt tells WebMD.
In these cases, you equate eating with comfort and before you know it, you’ve overdosed on your calorie count for the day.
Binge eating is especially dangerous to the diet because it throws the body into an irregular eating pattern, making it difficult for it to properly digest food.
Breaking These Habits
Instead of rushing to adopt new habits or to cut out bad habits from your lifestyle, try making both long- and short-term goals that are realistic and manageable. To get there, take small steps in the right direction so that you’re not overwhelmed by your new lifestyle.
“Try to gradually incorporate new habits over time, and before you know it, you will be eating more healthfully and losing weight,” advises Keri Gans of the American Dietetic Association.
Every new challenge can be daunting, but over time, you’ll see how great you feel eating in a more healthy way and you’ll want to continue making progress.
